Have you dreamed of building your own machine? Do you wish you could invent something new? Here we look at a few British inventions of recent times.
Adaptable glasses
Do you wear glasses? If so, can you imagine life without them? In 1985, Joshua Silver, a professor at Oxford University, asked himself, “Can I invent a pair of glasses that could be changed by the wearer?” He designed two plastic lenses（透镜）that are filled with a special liquid. Using syringes（注射器）you change the liquid between the lenses until you can see clearly. The glasses are not beautiful but they are easy to use and cheap to make.
The wind-up radio
When you switch your TV on tonight, think about all those people without electricity. Thinking about this, Trevor Baylis came up with the idea of designing a radio that could be powered by hand. In common with Joshua Silver he wanted his invention to be cheap and easy to use. He wanted even the poorest people in developing countries, who don’t have electricity and cannot afford batteries, to use it. The radio has a generator (发电机) which is powered by turning a handle. In 1996 it won a BBC Design Award for Best Protect and Best Design.
The Dyson cleaner
In many homes around the world you can see a cleaner that looks like a spaceship. This is the Dyson vacuum (真空) cleaner which uses something called “cyclonic separation” to separate the dirt. You do not need a bag for your cleaner and it does not get blocked so it is very practical. The idea came to Sir James Dyson after he kept having problems with his vacuum cleaner. He decided he could design a better one and in 1993 he opened his own factory. The Dyson is now one of the best-selling cleaners in the UK and Dyson is believed to have earned over a billion pounds.
The Zapata fly-board
Ever dreamed of zooming through the water and leaping in the air like a dolphin? Now you can thanks to a fly-board, built by water sports enthusiast Frank Zapata. With it you can dive back in the water and out again. It’s possible to jump to incredible heights out of the water — over 30 feet. The basic fly-board model comes in at ￡4,200.
So keep dreaming and inventing. One day you might get it right.
1.What can we learn about Adaptable glasses?
A. They are very expensive. B. The inventor is a student.
C. The glasses are fragile. D. They don’t look very nice.
2.Which invention won an award?
A. Adaptable glasses. B. The wind-up radio.
C. The Dyson cleaner. D. The Zapata fly-board.
3.The Dyson cleaner was invented with the purpose of _________.
A. helping people use cleaners more easily
B. making Dyson a rich businessman
C. keeping the house cleaner than before
D. taking the place of human cleaners
Cutting global warming pollution would not only make the planet healthier, it would make people healthier too, new research suggests.
Cutting carbon dioxide emissions could save millions of lives, mostly by reducing preventable deaths from heart and lung diseases, according to studies released Wednesday and published in a special issue of The Lancet British medical journal.
“Relying on fossil fuels leads to unhealthy lifestyles, increasing our chances for getting sick and in some cases takes years from our lives,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a telecast (电视广播) briefing from her home state of Kansas. “As greenhouse gas emissions go down, so do deaths from cardiovascular (心血管的) and respiratory diseases (呼吸疾病). This is not a small effect.”
Instead of looking at the health ills caused by future global warming, as past studies have done, this research looks at the immediate benefits of doing something about the problem, said Linda Birnbaum, director of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Some possible benefits seemed highly speculative (投机的，推测的), the researchers conceded (承认，给予), based on people driving less and walking and cycling more. Other proposals studied were more concrete and achievable, such as reducing cook stoves that burn dung (粪便), charcoal and other polluting fuels in the developing world.
And cutting carbon dioxide emissions also makes the air cleaner, reducing lung damage for millions of people, doctors said.
“Here are ways you can attack major health problems at the same time as dealing with climate change," said lead author Dr. Paul Wilkinson, an environmental epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Wilkinson said the individual studies came up with numbers of premature deaths prevented or extra years of life added for certain places.
For example, switching to low-polluting cars in London and Delhi, India, would save 160 lost years of life in London and nearly 1,700 in Delhi for every million residents, one study found. But if people also drove less and walked or biked more, those extra saved years would soar (高耸，高涨) to more than 7,300 years in London and 12,500 years in Delhi because of less heart disease.
1.What does the passage mainly about?
A. How can people live longer.
B. Cutting carbon dioxide emissions saves life.
C. Global warming threatens people’s lives
D. People should stop relying on fossil fuels
2.The new research differs from past studies in that ________.
A. it focuses on the immediate benefits of cutting carbon dioxide emissions
B. it studies the bad effects arising from future global warming
C. it is believed by most people
D. it mainly targets at developing countries
3.According to Kathleen Sebelius ________.
A. sometimes it takes years to see the bad effects caused by consuming fossil fuels
B. without greenhouse gas emissions, people would not die of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases
C. the main reason why people get sick is that they rely on fossil fuels
D. death from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are closely related to greenhouse gas emissions
4.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. London and Delhi have already benefited from reducing greenhouse gas emissions
B. switching to low-polluting cars would save 160 lives in London every year
C. walking and biking instead of driving will reduce the chance of heart disease
D. attacking health problems and dealing with climate change are contradictory
In an ideal world, people would not test medicines on animals. Such experiments are stressful and sometimes painful for animals, and expensive and time–consuming for people. Yet animal experimentation is still needed to help bridge vast gaps in medical knowledge. That is why there are some 50 to 100 million animals used in research around the world each year.
Europe, on the whole, has the world’s most restrictive laws on animal experiments. Even so, its scientists use some 12 million animals a year, most of them mice and rats, for medical research. Official statistics show that just 1.1 million animals are used in research in America each year. But that is misleading. The American authorities do not think mice and rats are worth counting and, as these are the most common laboratory animals, the true figure is much higher. Japan and China have even less comprehensive data than America.
Now Europe is reforming the rules governing animal experiments by restricting the number of animals used in labs. Alternatives to animal testing, such as using human tissue or computer models, are now strongly recommended. In addition, sharing all research results freely should help to reduce the number of animals for scientific use. At present, scientists often share only the results of successful experiments. If their findings do not fit the hypothesis being tested, the work never sees the light of day. This practice means wasting time, money, and animals’ lives in endlessly repeating the failed experiments.
Animal experimentation has taught humanity a great deal and saved countless lives. It needs to continue, even if that means animals sometimes suffer. Europe’s new measures should eventually both reduce the number of animals used in experiments and improve the way in which scientific research is conducted.
1.What is the main idea of this passage?
A. The success of animal experiments should be ensured.
B. A ban on the use of animals in the lab should be enforced.
C. Greater efforts need to be taken to reduce the number of lab animals.
D. Scientists should be required to share their research results with each other.
2.Which of the following statements is true about animals used in the lab?
A. America uses only about 1.1 million lab animals per year.
B. Europe does not use mice and rats as lab animals at all.
C. Britain does not use as many lab animals as China does.
D. Japan has less comprehensive data on the number of lab animals used each year.
3.Which of the following is mentioned as an alternative to replace animal experiments?
A. Statistical studies.
B. Computer models.
C. DNA planted in animals.
D. Tissue from dead animals.
4.What usually happens to unsuccessful animal experiments?
A. They are not revealed to the public.
B. They are made into teaching materials.
C. They are collected for future publication.
D. They are not removed from the research topic list.
At times my mom has been uncomfortable seeing these qualities in me. For example, when I was 12, I went to Puerto Rico all by myself to stay with my grandmother for the summer. My mom was extremely nervous about it. She kept telling me how things were different in Puerto Rico, to always put on sunscreen, not to wander away from my grandmother, and other warnings. She helped me pack and did not leave the airport until she saw my plane take off.
But despite her worries, she let me go on my own. As I moved into my teens, she continued to give me space to grow and learn, even when it might have been difficult for her. When I reached my senior year, I decided to move away for college. Once again I found that I differed from my peers. While many of them wanted to stay close to home, I couldn't wait to be out in the world on my own. I had been looking forward to this chance for longer than I could remember. And once again, while my mom may not have been happy at the thought of me going away, she was supportive and excited for me. Sure, there were times when she’d nag (不断地唠叨)me about certain choices I made, but for the most part she did not stand in my way.
One big thing I realized during my senior year was that she actually believes in me and trusts me. That means a lot. Most of my life, and especially when I was little, the main person I tried to impress was my mother. I knew she expected nothing but the best from me. Sometimes it was hard to live up to her standards; getting a single B on my report card would make me feel bad because I knew she wanted me to have all A’s.
I know that her high standards have helped me stay focused on what's important, like education, and made me who I am. I am thankful for her support and involvement in my life. Most of all I respect her; she is the strongest woman I know and that's why I have turned out so strong and independent.
1.When the author decided to go to Puerto Rico, his mother ________.
A. wanted to go with him
B. worried about his safety
C. didn’t allow him to go
D. asked his grandmother for advice
2.The author decided to move away for college to ________.
A. be different from his peers
B. keep away from his mother
C. be independent in outside world
D. make his mother unhappy
3.We can learn from the third paragraph that the author’s mother ________.
A. had a high expectation from him
B. was too strict with him
C. used to expect nothing from him
D. cared little about his learning
4.We can learn from the last paragraph that the author ________.
A. is quite grateful for his mother’s trust
B. still doesn’t quite understand his mother’s attitude
C. doesn’t like his mother’s involvement in his life
D. wishes to have more freedom from his mother
It was already late when we set out for the next town, according to the map was about fifteen miles away on the other side of the .
There we felt that we would find a bed the night. Darkness fell soon after we left the village, but luckily we met as we drove fast along the narrow winding road that the hills. As we climbed , it became colder and rain began to fall, it difficult at times to see the road. I asked John, my companion, to drive more .
After we had traveled for about twenty miles, there was still no sign of the town which was on the map. We were beginning to get . Then without warning the car stopped. A quick showed that we had run out of petrol. Although we had little food with us, we decided to the night in the car.
Our meal was soon over. I tried to go to sleep at once, John, who was a sleeper, got out of the car after a few minutes and went for a walk the hills. Soon he came back. From the top of the hill he had seen, in the valley below, the of the town we were looking for. We at once unloaded all our luggage and with a great effort, to push the car to the top of the hill. Then we went back to the luggage, loaded the car again and set off down the hill. less than a quarter of an hour we were in the town, where we found a quite easily.
1.A. which B. it C. where D. that
2.A. rivers B. hills C. towns D. villages
3.A. surprised B. afraid C. pleased D. sure
4.A. at B. in C. through D. for
5.A. everybody B. somebody C. nobody D. anybody
6.A. got to B. arrived C. led to D. belonged to
7.A. taller B. higher C. lower D. faster
8.A. getting B. thinking C. causing D. making
9.A. certainly B. carefully C. slowly D. surely
10.A. marked B. set C. built D. drawn
11.A. excited B. worried C. cold D. warm
12.A. attention B. operation C. examination D. information
13.A. spend B. live C. spare D. stay
14.A. since B. though C. so D. but
15.A. quick B. fast C. poor D. heavy
16.A. across B. through C. down D. up
17.A. lights B. map C. bus D. situation
18.A. ought B. tried C. succeeded D. managed
19.A. For B. In C. Since D. At
20.A. policeman B. friend C. hotel D. cinema
Mr. John was so humorous that we had a good laugh ______ the meal.
A. at B. over C. in D. between
